Democratic Party leadership candidates train fire on Jung Chung-rae

The race to elect the next Democratic Party of Korea leadership kicked into high gear Sunday as the party's leadership candidates gathered to present their policy platforms.

Lawmakers Ko Min-jung, Kim Min-seok and Song Young-gil — listed in Korean alphabetical order — along with former Gangjin-gun council member Kim Bo-mi, attended an event hosted by the National Council for Decentralization and Local Democracy at the National Assembly on Sunday afternoon. Former party leader Jung Chung-rae, who has yet to formally declare his candidacy, also attended, prompting the other contenders to train their fire squarely on him.

Ko, the first to speak, struck a cautious note on the complete abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers, telling former Prime Minister Kim and Jung that the party must pursue "responsible politics, not just a competition of ideological clarity or principled posturing."

Former Prime Minister Kim and Song pressed the case that Jung, who led the party during the June 3 local elections, must be held accountable for the results.

Kim said "without victory, there is no reform, no growth in local autonomy, and no success for the Lee Jae Myung administration," and pledged to "lead the party to certain victory" in the 2028 general election.

Song said "the ruling party must take responsibility for all outcomes," and described his vision of the Democratic Party not as "a neighborhood party that fights the People Power Party, but a global party that defends South Korea's sovereignty and protects the national interest on the world stage."

Kim Bo-mi, born in 1989 and the youngest of the leadership contenders, leveled some of the sharpest criticism at Jung. She said, "You said you would dissolve the People Power Party, yet didn't you breathe new life into a PPP that was all but dead during the local elections?" She added that "during the one year under party leader Jung Chung-rae, the Democratic Party failed to open the door to the future and instead retreated, blocked by the door of the past."

Jung said he "did not know it was a candidate platform presentation" when asked why he attended the event, and drew a clear line against any interpretation that his presence amounted to a de facto declaration of candidacy.

On the barrage of attacks directed at him, he said, "The people announcing their candidacies are all attacking and criticizing me — it hurts," but added that "while I will take the hits, I will continue to exercise my right of self-defense going forward," signaling he would not stay silent.

He went on to emphasize unity, solidarity and uninterrupted reform, invoking the party's lineage running from former presidents Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in through to President Lee.

On prosecution reform in particular, he said "reform is the identity of the Democratic Party," insisting that "the complete abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers — down to the last drop — is the right answer."

The leadership candidates also fanned out across the country Sunday, keeping up an active schedule of grassroots outreach. Ko, who had been meeting party members in the traditionally difficult Yeongnam region — including Yeongju, Gumi and Chilgok in North Gyeongsang Province and Daegu — from Friday through Sunday, pledged to "do her utmost to build a Democratic Party for everyone, free of factional conflict, as those members wished."

Former Prime Minister Kim held a "YouTuber Q&A" event at the National Assembly Members' Hall on Sunday, fielding questions in an open-discussion format as part of his effort to engage with party members.

Song visited constituents at an event in Incheon's Yeonsu-gu before holding a town hall meeting with party members from northern Gyeonggi Province in Uijeongbu.

Jung visited his mother's birthplace in Wanju-gun, North Jeolla Province, and later attended Mass at Jinsan Cathedral in Geumsan-gun, South Chungcheong Province.

Competition is also intensifying among the candidates to win over Honam — the Jeolla region — widely seen as the decisive battleground of this leadership race. Song plans to base himself in Honam for a full month starting from the candidate registration deadline on Friday through the day of the party convention, focusing his on-the-ground activities on advancing the Honam semiconductor cluster as part of what he calls his "three mega projects."

Jung, who has been visiting Honam daily since stepping down as party leader, also attended a national Honam residents' association event in Muju, North Jeolla Province, on Sunday afternoon, continuing his courtship of the region.

Ko, wrapping up her two-night, three-day Yeongnam tour, announced that Honam would be her next destination, signaling her entry into the intensifying contest for Honam votes.